Outlet Falls 2011

This new video was posted April 10 by Wells Brothers Productions: “Tyler Bradt, Eric Johnson, and Todd and Brendan Wells paddle Outlet Falls in Glenwood, Wash., at peak flows. After our first day on the drop we returned for a second round, in which we also ran the first descent of the lead-in rapids to the falls.”

Everybody in Hood River had their eyes on this 69-footer, and when it finally went this January, five boaters, five photographers, two dogs and an assortment of hangers-on post-holed through the snow to get to it. The drop was a can't-miss prospect for the photographers, but far less kind to the boaters. The paddlers had to seal-launch from a snowy runway into the bottom of a Class V rapid, catch an eddy and then run a "heavy" Class IV above the falls. "I had a good angle, the initial hit was soft but the water from the falls crushed me and I lost my paddle," says Erik Boomer, who was the first to huck, and the first to swim after eight attempted hand rolls. "The boils weren't helping me."

Then Ben Stookesberry stepped up, running it clean followed by L.J. Groth, who also came out of his boat. The next day, a second group lined the drop, including Cody Howard, whose skirt imploded on impact. "I dropped it and had my skirt pop," he says. "I made it over to the side and stood up. I didn't swim." For the record, Luke Spencer, pictured below, also joined the swim team. -- Jeff Moag